Means for regulating evening mechanisms for cotton pickers or openers.



No. 833,155. PATENTED OCT. 16, 1906.

w. J..BRITTON. MEANS FOR REGULATING EVENING MECHANISMS FOR COTTON PICKERS 0R OPENERS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 25, 1905.

'2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

lave/2105' rue NURRIS PETERS CO.,'WA5HINGTON, m c.

No. 833,155. P ATENTED OCT. 16, 1906.

J. BRITTON. MEANS FOR REGULATING EVENING MECHANISMS-FOR COTTON PIGKERS 0R OPENERS.

' APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 25, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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WALTER J. BRITTON, OF SPARTANBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA.

MEANS FOR REGULATING EVENING MECHANISMS FOR COTTON PICKERS 0R OPENERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906.

Application filed September 25, 1905. Serial No. 280,046.

T0 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER J. BRITTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spartanburg, county of S artanburg, State of South Carolina, have mvented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Regulating Evening Mechanism for Cotton Pick- 'ers or Openers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of machinery well known in the art as cotton pickers or openers. Such machinery is provided with evening mechanism, the purpose of which is to render the lap or roll of .cotton of uniform weight per unit of length. So long as the conditions remain the samethat is, the density of the cotton and other circumstances remain unchanged the evening mechanism will operate automatically to accomplish the above result. It may be, however, that the density of the cotton or other conditions will change, when in order to maintain the uniformity of weight of the lap it will be necessary to change the adjustment of the evening mechanism, or it may be desired to alter the .weight of the lap, which may also be accomplished by adjusting the evening mechanism. The apparatus thus far described is Well known in the art.

As cotton pickers are universally constructed the evening mechanism is placed at the rear of the machine and thecotton which is to be formed into the lap is fed from that side. The duties of the operator require that he shall stand in front of the machine, where the lap is discharged. It is therefore necessary whenever an adjustment of the evening mechanism is required for the operator to go from his position at the front of the machine to the back and return to the front again after the adjustment has been effected- This obviously is a matter of serious inconvenience and causes a waste of time, which impairs the efliciency of the plant.

It is the object of this invention to provide means whereby the operator may effect any desired adjustment of the evening mechanism without moving from his position at the front of the machine; and it is a further object of the invention to provide an indicator visible to the operator from this position by which he may be advised of the adjustment of the evening mechanism.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cotton-picker having my invention applied thereto, and Fig. 2 is a rear end elevation.

Referring to the drawings, the cotton is fed to the machine at A and the lap is discharged at B, the points A and B being located at therear and front of the machine, respectively. The evening mechanism employed in the machine shown comprises an evening-roll mounted upon the shaft 1 and a the usual evening-plates cooperating therewith. Connected to the evening-plates 1n the usual way is'lever 2, which, as usual, extends horizontally acrossthe machine and whose free end is connected, by means of a rod 3, with a short crank 81 on the shaft 32 of a segmental gear 4, which is journaled in a bracket 33 upon the frame of the machine. The rod 3 is secured to the lever 2 by passing through a hole in the said lever and having a nut 5 in screw-threaded engagement with its upper end. This nut 5 provides means for adjusting the eveningmechanism, as will be hereinafter set forth.

The evening-roll u on the shaft 1 is driven from the driving-pul ey6 by means of a belt 7, which passes over the driving-pulley, idlerpulleys 8 and 9, and the cone-pulley 10, the lastnamed pulley being geared to the evening-roll upon the shaft 1. The idler-pulley 9 is of cylindrical form, while the idler-pulley 8 is oppositely tapered to the cone-pulley 10, so that the belt will be maintained in proper tension at all times. A bar 11 is mounted to slide upon the frame of the picker and is rovided with a notch 12, within which the elt 7 runs, so that as the rod is moved in one direction or the other the belt will move with it. Movement of the bar 11 is accomplished by means of a rack 13, formed in one end of the bar and which engages with the segment 4.

Upon change of the amount of the cotton presented to the evening mechanism any movement of the evener-plates will be transmitted to the lever 2, which will move up or down in the usual manner, as the case may be. This movement of the lever will result in the turning of the segment 4 about its pivot and the shifting of the bar 11 in one direction or the other, according to the movementof the lever 2. As the belt 7 moves with the bar 11 it will be transferred to a point upon the pulley 10 which is of greater or less diameter, and the speed of the evening-roll will be correspondingly increased or diminished. The evening-plates operate antomatically in a well-known manner to shift the lever 2 according to the cotton passing over them and are so constructed that upon the passage of a larger amount of cotton the speed of the roll will be diminished, while if the supply of cotton is diminished the speed of the evening-roll will be increased. The supply of cotton delivered to the beater, and therefore the uniformity of the lap, will be preserved automatically so long as the conditions, such as density of the cotton, remain unchanged. When, however, the conditions as noted do change or it is desired to change the weight of the lap, the connections between the evening-plates and the belt-shifting device may be adjusted by turning the nut 5 upon the rod-3. The nut 5 is usually provided with wings, so as to form a thumbnut to be grasped by the operator. This, as before noted, requires that the operator shall go to the rear of the machine whenever an adjustment is made, with attendant inconvenience and loss of time. The apparatus as thus far described is well known 1n the art, and it is unnecessary to go into further detail regarding it.

In order that the operator may effect the desired adjustment from the front of the machine, a rod 14 is rotatably mounted in bearings24 and 25 u on the frame of the picker. At its rear end tl fe rod 14 is provided behind the bearing 25 with a bevel-gear 15, engaging with a similar gear u on the nut 5. A short distance in front of t 1e bearing 25 the rod is rovided with an adjustable collar 26, and between the collar and the bearing the rod is encircled by a coiled s ring 27, which reacts against the collar ancbearing, forming an adjustable friction device to prevent accidental movement of the shaft, and thereby kee the pointer 18 in steady position on the dia The rod 14 extends to a point at the front of the machine where it may be conveniently gras ed by the operator, where it terminate in a andle 16.

In order that the operator may know at all times the condition of adjustment of the evening mechanism, a suitable indicator is provided, which is visible to the operator from his position at the front of the machine. This indicator may take the form of a dial 17, fixed to the frame of the picker, and a pointer 18, fixed to the rod 14 and movable over the face of the dial.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat-' ent, is

1. In a cotton picker or o ener, thecombinatlon with the evenlng mec anlsm, of means for adjusting said mechanism, means for op- I crating said adjusting means extending to the front of the picker, and an indicator observablefrom the front of the picker for indicating the condition of the evening mechan- 1sm.

2. In a cotton picker or opener, the combination with the evening mechanism located at the rear of the picker, of means for adjusting said mechanism, a rotatable rod geared to said adjusting means and extending to the front of the picker, a dial observable from the front of the picker, and a pointer secured to said rod and movable over said dial.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

I WALTER J. BRITTON. Witnesses: HUGH R. CANNON, M. L. SMITH. 

